


Will you still be proud of me?

by anotherbuskitten



Category: Captain America (Comics)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-16
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2018-01-01 18:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1047149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherbuskitten/pseuds/anotherbuskitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebecca outlives all her boys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Will you still be proud of me?

It’s my baby boy’s funeral, and I’m thinking, ‘ _A_ _nother one dead’_. It’s my boy’s funeral; Richard James after my husband’s brother and my own.

They both died in the war. I never told Geoff that I had a brother though so James wasn’t a legacy to fulfil.

My boy is dead and all I can think is: _‘I had a brother once.”_

James died in the war and no one knew I was his sister; or no one I knew at least. He fought for his country while I learned algebra. It doesn’t really seem fair.

Our mom died first and then our dad and then James and then Geoff and now Richard’s gone as well. Maybe I’m cursed.

At school, all the girls mooned over the handsome war heroes. I wasn’t very good at mooning back then; you wouldn’t be either, if you’d grown up with James. Not that anyone mooned over my brother anyway, not with Captain America standing next to him.

_[All the other girls said I’d never get a sweetheart if I kept treasuring my brother over everything. I thought I’d never get a sweetheart if I kept trying to measure them against him but I couldn’t tell them that.]_

When James died I clenched my fists and didn’t cry. I heard some of the girls giggling and wondering if the Captain needed comforting.

_[I never got in a single fight while I was at school. James always said I was dangerous, so what was I doing here?]_

I remember pressing my face to the glass as I was taken away to the school for the first time. I think I was waiting for him to fight to keep me. His face was red and it was the first time I’d seen him without a bruise or cut for almost a year.

That’s how I remember James.

_[You’re a firecracker Becca, you’ll outlive us all.]_

I remember hating Captain America that day.

I remember the soldiers coming to school. _[Rebecca Barnes? I’m afraid we’ve got some bad news.]_ And I remember wanting to hurt them for getting here after the news. I felt I should’ve learnt the news before anyone else. And then I remembered I wasn’t supposed to know about Bucky.

_[It’s your brother miss, there’s been an accident.]_

He’d never kept any secrets from me.

_[I wonder if he told them about me.]_

I’ve still got all his letters.

It’s my little boy’s funeral today and I’m thinking; _‘At least he’s got a family up there.’_


End file.
